Authors: Donna Flynn
No one seemed
surprised when she walked into the kitchen
,
almost as if
her
arrival
had been expected
. She might have questioned it
on a normal day
,
but she had bigger things on her
mind. Her eyes moved to
Alec who seemed unharmed and in
very
go
od humor for someone who
suffered a traumatic injury
so recently
.
She stared at him uncertainly, but he just smiled warmly
as if nothing had happened
.
“Go
od morning Angel.” He pulled
out a chai
r for
her, which
she walked to slowly
inspecting him
for any sign of injury
.
“Are you feeling better?” Lucan asked placing a cup of tea in front of her
as she sat down
.
“I…” She stared at
their expectant faces, laying her
shaking hand on the table, confused by thier calmness.
Could it have been a dream?
Had she fallen asleep and
imagined the last twenty- four hours
?
She shook her head
confident that was not the case.
“
Mer
c
y,” Alec said,
concerned by her
continued
silence.
“You were shot
… I healed you,
”
she said accusingly
.
“Yes but …” S
he
pulled
at the hem of his t
-shirt lifting the material to stare
in disbelief
a
t the
slightly pucker
ed scar where the bullet had entered his chest
.
“
Sweetheart I know
you’re
dying to see my body
,
but your brothers are here
,” h
e teased placing her hands back on her lap
and pulling his shirt back down
.
“No one recovers
from
a s
hot like this,
even with my healing
them
.” She
gasped realizing
she said
it
aloud
for everyone to hear
.
He
r mother had been terrified of her
heal
ing ability
, she made her swear
never
to
use her gift or tell anyone what she could do.
She warned that there were people who would do anything to posses her
just for her healing abilities
, even kill for it if necessary
. The
warning
had been enough
to frighten a young impressionable
child. She never told a soul or used her healing
ability
,
except to save a few animals in the forest that surrounded their mountain home
.
It had
seemed harmless enough at the time, but the
very
reason her parents
were dead was
bec
ause,
she
had
used her healing to save a wolf
i
n the f
orest behind their home
.
She
had
found the animal
cau
ght in a
hunters
trap
. The metal monstrosity had mangled his leg and he
was how
ling in agony
. One look into his icy blue eyes and she was captivated, she
never thought twice about saving him
.
Miraculously she managed to rele
ase him from the trap,
and then
she
healed
its injuries and hid
him
in the woods under the shelter of some trees
to
heal
.
After his
recovery,
he visited often,
becoming her only friend in
the
soli
tary world,
which she lived in
.
One a
f
ternoon
,
she
heard him howling in the woods and
she brought
lunch to share with him
,
but
instead of her
blue-eyed
wolf,
another
waited
.
This wolf was scraggly, almost ragged in appearance and his onyx eyes
were cold, filled with nothing,
but the promise of death.
She dropped the basket
to the ground hoping it
would take the food, and give
her a chance to run
a
way
, but he showed no interest in the scattered sandwiches. Instead, the beast
bared its teeth
,
saliva dripping from the lon
g sharp canines as it
began to circle
d,
her looking for an opportunity to attack. She looked away for a brief
moment and he pounced
knocking he
r
to the ground
his teeth gripping her leg, pulling her towards the deepest part of the forest.
She knew if he managed to take her to his
den,
she was certainly dead, so s
he
let out an ear-piercing scream,
and kicked him
hard in the side with her free
leg.
H
er actions
took him
unaware and he fell to
the
ground a few feet away stunned
she had been able to shove him off
.
Mercy had
scrambled to her feet running
as fast as she could
to get away
, praying someone would hear her shouts for help and rescue her
, but t
he scraggly beast
wa
s quick to rebound
. He
ran
close behind waiting for the right opportunity to jump her.
She was out of breath and had come to a wall of rock that blocked her path,
when t
he sound of another growl filled the air drawing
t
he
attention of the wolf away from her.
Taking advantage of the
distraction,
she scrambled up
the rugged face of the large rock formation
balancing herself on top
to stare down at the wolf below who watched the wood line warily.
Out of the dense forest the blue
-
eyed wolf
she had saved
pounced, leaping
to
her defense
,
his
massive paws and
teeth tearing into
the other
wolf
. The scraggly
smaller
wolf fought back, but he was no match for t
he larger, more aggressive one
and soon he was bleeding profusely
, dragging one leg behind,
barely able to stand
.
T
he blue-eyed wolf came to stand be
fore the boulder
, h
is
mass
ive body
hovering
bef
ore her
, tense and ready
should the other decide to attack again.
The bedraggled
wolf however, made no move to attack,
he slunk off like a beaten dog,
but
before he completely cleared
the
area,
he looked back his eyes meeting hers
with
promise of retribution
.
She never once
doubt
ed
that
wo
lf had k
illed her parents, but she
couldn’
t tell anyone, not even her brothers who loved more than anyone in the world di
d.
No one would understand or
believ
e her story. No,
her punishment was living everyday of her life knowing
the gift she had been given,
killed the two people she had loved most
.
T
hat day
she had vowed to herself to
never to use her healing ability again, but seeing Alec dying had been enough to break that vow and now she feared their recriminations.
Would they fear her as her mother rightfully had or would they accept what she was and be thankful?
Her fear must have shown in her face because her brother
s
rushed to ease her worries.
“Everything is alright,
” Cade said from across the table
sensing her unease
.
“Y
ou saved Alec
,
how
wonderful
is that?
” Lucan added
noting how pale she
become
while lost in her musings
.
“Wonderful?” s
he asked
shocked
they so easily
accepted what she had done when her own mother had
been horrified
.
“I’m
alive
,
thanks to you,”
Alec said at her side.
“How could you not believe your gift is a great one?”
Mercy looked him over
critically.
She possessed little knowledge of
her
abilities
and had no real experience healing humans
,
so she was unsure if his amazing recovery was normal or not.
It baffled her he appeared so healthy after being so close to death. She’d been inside of him knew, he had been ready to give up, felt him fading as she worked fixing the damage to his body, but now it was if none of that had ever happened.
“T
here is no shame in your gift
,
” Gregory said reaching out to take her small hand in his large one.
His
piercing
blue
eyes shined
with pride as he stared
down on her
,
so unlike the fear her mother
often had
. A
t once, she was reminded of the
wolf she saved so long ago
, he had the same wisdom in his gaze and she felt the same connection with Gregory she had with him, but she shook it off as coincidence
.
Obviously, Gregory and wolf had nothing in
common. O
ne was human and the other animal
,
so there
could be no connection
between them
.
“You saved my son,
you will always have my
thanks
,
but what’s more
you have an extraordinary talent
that should never bring you shame
,
”
Gregory told her.
Alec’s hand fell to her knee and she turned him
,
seeing nothing
fearful in his warm gaze
.
Their confidence in her hea
ling gave her knew confidence
. S
he began to wonder
if her mother had been w
rong to force her to hide w
hat she could do from the world
, but m
emories
of
the
finding her par
ents
dead made her feel shame for even thinking it
.
Tears flowed
down he
r cheeks
and Alec pulled her close hugging her to
him
experiencing
her pain
as
his own
hating the torment she was going through
.
“Angel, your healing is
a gift.”